Archinect - News

Architects can now add accurate sun positioning in real-time with Morpholio Trace's new 'Shadow Maker' tool

2022-03-22T08:00:00-04:00

Morpholio today launched another powerful tool inside its popular TracePro app that allows architects, designers, and landscape architects to "control the sun." Dubbed "Shadow Maker," the new in-app feature lets users add and adjust solar positioning within a project in real-time, providing an accurate and informative way for shadows to be generated within drawings.

Shadow Maker sun positioning in Morpholio TracePro. Image courtesy of Morpholio.

Since the introduction of their Trace app for the iPad in 2012, Morpholio has been positioning itself as a leader in software applications made for architects by architects. After launching several easy-to-use new tools for designers, their latest feature is "game-changing for designers" according to Toru Hasegawa, Morpholio Co-Founder. "Architects can now instantly overlay their model with accurate, geo-located shadows to set or sample sun patterns and immediately use their impact to draw, sketch or design."

According to Morpholio, Shadow ...

Morpholio's new in-app feature for Trace, the Smart Hatch, bridges traditional hand drawing with smart technology

2021-03-23T13:24:00-04:00

With advanced versions of digital magic developing every day, architects and designers now are able to connect more fluidly with the global design community. In this paperless, new era we live in, we welcome a recently launched feature in Morpholio's Trace app, the Smart Hatch.

Morpholio has four apps built-in. The popular Trace app with the newest feature plugs the traditional architect profession into today’s digital world with smart hatching, “trace paper” capabilities, and the precision of AutoCAD intelligence.

With the use of an Apple Pencil, the Smart Hatch feature allows enhanced adjustments in the tolerance, shading, and scaling of a pattern, as well as saving into a new hatch library, as compared to AutoCAD. Users can use the Smart Fill feature to hatch in concrete and reinforced steel details, roof shingles and wall panels in elevations, and wood planking in floor plans.

Programming analysis with hatch diagrams is available as well. The ability to calculate the pricing a...

Morpholio Trace and Shapr3D launch new iOS 12 features to integrate 3D modeling and sketching for architects

2018-09-26T15:59:00-04:00

With Apple's recent release of its latest mobile operating system, iOS 12, we're now seeing new feature releases in a variety of apps. Two players in the world of architectural software, Morpholio Trace and Shapr3D, today announced a joint effort that promises to further bridge the divide between 3D modeling and sketching on the iPad Pro thanks to Apple’s Drag and Drop and the new universal 3D file type USDZ.

Credit: Jim Keen. Image courtesy of Morpholio.

Dubbed "Drag 'n' Fly", the new iOS 12 feature by Morpholio, a company that we've covered previously on Archinect, enables users to integrate live 3D models in Trace sketches, create infinite views, and draw over automatically generated perspective grids. Shapr3D models can now be exported directly to Trace via the new OBJ export, simplifying the switch between drawing and modeling.

Credit: Jim Keen. Image courtesy of Morpholio.

Morpholio Co-Founder Mark Collins explains the reason behind...

Bringing Augmented Reality for architects to the small screen: Morpholio launches Trace app for iPhone

2018-02-07T18:24:00-05:00

If you've already liked or used Morpholio's popular Trace app on the iPad Pro, you can now also get excited to put it to work on your small screen: TracePro just launched for iPhone and presents a powerful architectural application of Apple's ARKit augmented reality framework in a pocket-friendly format.

AR drawing

The app positions itself as a helpful tool in the field where critical design decisions have to be made consistently — with the amount of on-site design often outweighing planning in Concept and SD combined.

"Not only do budgets, scope changes and fast track schedules force important design decisions on site," Morpholio explains the need for TracePro, "but unforeseen field conditions, contractor errors and never ending client changes can all keep your team designing and problem solving throughout CA."

Scale photos

Five so-called "CA Super Tools" are the app's key features designed to make architects' lives in the field easier:

AR Drawing on Site: utilizing the iPhone's pow...

Is that Augmented Reality in your pocket? Morpholio updates their apps to take advantage of Apple's new ARKit

2017-09-19T15:46:00-04:00

Apple's latest mobile operating system, iOS 11, just released today. One of the biggest updates that should get the attention of architects is ARKit, Apple's new augmented reality framework. ARKit provides the opportunity to for Apple and 3rd party developers to create AR experiences anew, or to enhance existing applications for iPhone and iPad.

Augmented reality is relatively old news, but the fact that this framework is now baked into the most popular mobile device in the world, soon to be married to Apple's latest AR-friendly hardware, is big news. Millions of people around the world will soon have some of the most advanced AR tools in their pockets, regardless if they want it. Businesses and app developers now have the opportunity to show the potential of AR to people without requiring them to purchase expensive new hardware and software.

Morpholio, a company that we've covered previously on Archinect, is dedicated to bringing this new technology to architects and interior des...

Instant, customizable digital architectural stencils hit the market

2016-09-06T14:38:00-04:00

With a press release that makes references to Banksy's iconic global stencils, the new digital architectural stencil set from Morpholio enables architects to instantly make customizable stencils of complex designs, from faces to condo layouts to intricately shaded trees. The initial image can come from a photograph, drawing, or render.

As Toru Hasegawa, co-creator of Morpholio Trace Pro explains: "Software should mirror the gestures, intuition and behavior of the creative. Trace Pro seeks to amplify it, and in doing so, make it as smart and elastic as possible."

This video illustrates the process, which involves gliding the stencil tool over a particular design, capturing it, and then replicating it/editing it at will with the assorted tool bars:

Morpholio's new "ScalePen" offers a new way to draw on Trace app

2016-03-22T18:44:00-04:00

It is not only a new way of working, it is part of the latest renaissance in drawing; imagining the heart of the designer merged with the brain of a computer.

Morpholio has just released “ScalePen”, a patent-pending tool used to draft on the developer’s popular "Trace" app for the iPad. The company’s co-creator, Anna Kenoff, views ScalePen as an “entirely new opportunity for architectural drawing… Rather than setting or keeping records of your own pen weight, Morpholio makes the software do the work for you.”

With the development of CAD, hand drafting has seemingly become a thing of the past. “Fortunately, creative production is fueled by much more than just efficiency”, says Morpholio, adding that “architects and designers have given new rise to hand drawing and sketching as part of their process - a renaissance no doubt ushered in by the touchscreen and stylus.”

The app offers an assortment of pen sizes that respond as the stylus is moved around, through and into the drawing. The ScalePen feature checks the drawing scale and zoom level continuously to automatically assign a calibrated set of technical pens. Morpholio suggests that it save...

Get a glimpse of the EyeTime 2015 winners' photos

2015-12-09T15:26:00-05:00

Morpholio held another successful EyeTime photography competition! The popular contest for designers was established by photographers, professors and students to highlight the ongoing research and investigation brewing within today's emerging design talent.

Young professionals and students submitted their work to the guest jury (which included Archinect and Bustler founder Paul Petrunia). The public also had the opportunity to participate in picking the winning entries.

Take a gander at some of this year's winners:

↑ EMERGING TALENT - JURY WINNER: Jiawei Zhou - "Invisible City"

↑ EMERGING TALENT - JURY WINNER: Turjoy Chowdhury - "Nepal Quake Aftermath"

↑ EMERGING TALENT - JURY WINNER: Vanessa Vettorello - "Bollywood Talkies"

↑ EMERGING TALENT - PUBLIC WINNER: Yew Kiat Soh - "First Class"

↑ FUTURE VOICES - JURY WINNER: Md Shahnewaz Khan - "Fallen Stars"

↑ JESSICA LUM AWARD WINNER: Emese Benko - "#opentheborders"

↑ SPECIAL RECOGNITION: Luca Laghetti - "Sometimes you need to be brave"

See more of the winners on Bustler.

Take your sketching to the next level: Morpholio launches Trace Pro app for the iPad Pro & Pencil

2015-11-11T19:54:00-05:00

Ever since Apple announced the launch of the supersized iPad Pro tablet and its Pencil companion, the anticipation grew which new apps—specifically developed for designers and creatives—could fully make use of the enhanced capacity: a more powerful A9X processor, larger 12.9-inch Retina display and stylus precision encouraged potential new features that neither traditional tablets nor desktop computers had been capable of. "It could offer a lot to designers who still bring out tracing paper before launching inDesign or Rhino," Nicholas Korody wrote on Archinect after the product launch in September.

One exciting new app that promises to fully bridge that gap between physical and digital sketching via iPad Pro and Pencil was just launched by Morpholio this week: Trace Pro.

Here is some more information we've received from Morpholio:

Trace Pro Unleashes 5 Super Tools:

Hyper Zooming with Scale:
Zoom from a plan sketch, into a room, into the furniture, and ultimately into the details. Trace...

Generate your next creative idea with Morpholio's Journal app, a digital super-tool sketchbook

2015-08-04T12:00:00-04:00

Architects and designers have adapted to the digitization of the creative process, although trustworthy paper sketchbooks, notepads, and journals remain as an essential free-flowing workspace for brainstorming ideas. Morpholio conveniently combines both realms in Journal, a new app that redefines the portable sketchbook as a mixing chamber where designers, artists, writers, and all creative types can effortlessly record, organize, collage, or sketch to develop their ideas — right at their fingertips.

Journal Unleashes 5 Super Tools:

1. Sketch on anything, anywhere

Journal allows you to sketch and write on any media. Not everyone wants to start with a blank canvas and now you don't have to. Design over an image, get creative with a photo, or make backgrounds of any type. You can sketch on top of any surface, and the sketch will literally move, twist and scale with the image it's on. Draw on everything to build the ultimate archive of inspirations, ideas, and encounters; allowing the lon...

EyeTime announces the 2014 winners

2014-12-02T17:22:00-05:00

The results are out for EyeTime 2014. The popular contest was created by photographers, professors and students to highlight the ongoing research, exploration and investigation happening within today's emerging talent. The guest jury chose the winning photographs from the Emerging Talent (young professionals/enthusiasts) and Future Voices (students) categories. Additionally, the public got to participate in selecting the winners in the "EyeTime" contest...

This year, the guest jury featured Archinect and Bustler founder/director Paul Petrunia! Here's a peek at some of the 2014 winners:

(Pictured above) EMERGING TALENT JURY WINNER: Binh Duong - "Street Barber"

EMERGING TALENT JURY WINNER: Rongguo Gao - "Mother and Child"

FUTURE VOICES JURY WINNER: Ben Tynegate - "Architecture in Limbo"

FUTURE VOICES JURY WINNER: Turjoy Chowdhury - "Flowers of City Slums"

FUTURE VOICES PUBLIC WINNER: Christopher Lucka - "Lovers"

Find more of the winning photos on Bustler.

EyeTime 2014 finalists

2014-11-04T20:31:00-05:00

The EyeTime competition is back for 2014. The popular annual contest was established by photographers, professors and students to promote the research, exploration and investigation currently happening within today's emerging talent.

Winning photographs from the Emerging Talent (young professionals/enthusiasts) and Future Voices (students) categories will be chosen by the guest jury in addition to the public-viewing "EyeTime" contest. Another bonus: This year's guest jury includes Archinect and Bustler founder/director, Paul Petrunia!

Here's a few of this year's finalists.

Emerging Talent:

Pictured above: Fold . Hold by Darren Yio.

↓ Symmetry by Edward Neumann - EMCN.

↓ Lost Angelinos by Erica Simone.

Future Voices finalists:

↓ Architecture in Limbo by Ben Tynegate.

↓ Train Yards Chicago: A Network of Connectivity by Chris Bennett.

↓ Mans Best Friend by Mando Parrilla.

Head over to Bustler to see more.

EyeTime 2013 Competition Finalists

2013-11-07T13:56:00-05:00

The finalists for the EyeTime 2013 competition have been revealed for the Emerging Talent and Future Voices categories. The competition aims to promote the research, exploration and investigation among today's emerging talent.

UPDATE: EyeTime 2013 competition winners are out

Inside 2013 Unveils Competition Winners

2013-08-20T21:18:00-04:00

The Morpholio Project has revealed the winners of Inside 2013! In case you're just tuning in about this competition, Inside 2013 promotes the research, exploration and investigation currently happening in academia and today's emerging talent.

Previously: Inside 2013: Competition Finalists

Morpholio app launches v2.0

2013-05-02T14:35:00-04:00

The good folks at the Morpholio Project, who brought you the Trace iPad app, have launched their latest application which combines 7 new tools for presentation, collaboration, and critique.

"The app re-imagines the portfolio as a design utility, moving it into the fast, flexible, at-your-fingertips device era. The project seeks to advance the ways that creatives access, share, discuss, and get feedback on their work from a global community of users."

To learn more and download Morpholio 2.0, check it out in iTunes.

EyeTime 2012 Competition Finalists

2012-11-09T14:51:00-05:00

The EyeTime 2012 photography competition has announced its finalist entries selected in two categories, Emerging Talent and Future Voices. The competition seeks to publicly promote the research, exploration and investigation among today's emerging talent and the way we digitally produce, distribute, and consume photography in the face of device culture, social networking, and cloud technology.

The winning photographs will be selected by the jury as well as by "EyeTime" when viewed on the competition's Morpholio app.

Editor's Picks #284

2012-10-01T01:10:00-04:00

This week, SANAA released a proposal for its first building in the United States , located in New Canaan, Connecticut. The steel, concrete, and wood headquarters for the Grace Farms Foundation will wind its way along a piece of the 75-acre property owned by the nonprofit charitable organization. FRaC labeled it a "running fence" yet, AP simply "love(d) it".

News
Caela J. McKeever a self-described "young architect" penned How the economy upended young architects' hopes. The piece looks at how frustrated architecture grads of her generation are dropping out of the profession leading to a "renaissance happening among young architects — and it’s not in architecture". Fred Scharmen argued "The concerns the author highlights are real, but IMO, not traceable directly back to the economy, rather to the failure of many offices to respond to the opportunities laid out by the current crisis. Models of office hierarchy, project delivery, marketing, and client relations need to change. ...I was lucky enough to have experience with one office that recognized this, and is in the process of adapting" while Given replied "I have to say of all the complaints I have against the profession, the ones she makes aren't really the ones I care about...Id much rather fix the growing trend towards the field being divided between rich young people doing high ...

The Morpholio Project launches Trace for the iPad

2012-09-25T18:04:00-04:00

The next generation of tracing paper can now be loaded onto your iPad.

New York, September 25, 2012 – The Morpholio Project announces the launch of its second app, simply called Trace. The app explores the role of technology in the conceptual phase of the design workflow through a digital version of trace paper, and fosters communication amongst a global design culture. Trace, essential to any design or creative process, allows users to instantly draw on top of imported images or background templates, layering comments or ideas to generate immediate, intelligent sketches that are easy to circulate.

The uniqueness of Trace is most visible in two primary modes. One is communication, in which the user can simply trace over something in order to give feedback or convey information quickly, and graphically. The second is idea exploration. “You are plugging yourself into a recursive feedback loop, as you iteratively build up an idea, taking several passes at it,” says co-creator Mark ...